Hundreds of people gathered on the Ithaca Commons Tuesday afternoon in support of a former Cornell University student who alleges she was raped by seven other students at a fraternity house in October 2024.
The rally was organized in part by a group of sexual assault prevention advocates and content creators. Many said they had traveled to Ithaca specifically to attend the rally, some from out of state and a handful from outside the country.
The alleged rape has sparked international uproar after the former student, who is identified only as Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit on Sept. 16 that laid out detailed allegations of coerced sex and drug use. The lawsuit and subsequent reporting by national outlets have led many to accuse Cornell University and local prosecutors of mishandling the case.
Tuesday’s rally featured speeches from several high-profile sexual assault prevention advocates and survivors, as well as an array of content creators and several local college students.
Among the speakers was Jess Michaels, who has alleged she had been sexually abused by convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein in 1991, as well as Alva Johnson, who filed a 2019 lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct by President Donald Trump when she was a staffer for his first presidential campaign in 2016.
Many protesters were dressed in red, which organizers said is “Jane Doe’s favorite color.” Speakers led the crowd in chants that ranged from declarations of solidarity for Jane Doe to calls to “release the Epstein files” and to “fuck shit up” to demand change.
Some speakers led the crowd in chants that involved separate calls and responses for men and women. Others thanked men for showing up to the protest.
Advocate and content creator Shannon Porter, who hosts a podcast about sexual assault and trauma, read a letter reportedly penned by Jane Doe.
“‘Thank you for turning your belief into action,’” Porter read from the letter. “‘Thank you for recognizing the countless difficulties and obstacles that come with being Jane and demanding that the systems that so often fail us can do better. Thank you for giving me hope in the courageous Cornell student body.’”
Prior to the rally, organizers set up a table and invited attendees to write letters to Jane Doe, who organizers said would receive the letters via her attorney.
The rally, while well attended by activists and media alike, did not draw the “thousands” predicted in a press release from organizers. It also fell on the final day of Cornell’s fall break, for which many students choose to travel out of town.
A crowd gathers, many from afar
Paulina Sulsky drove to Ithaca from Toronto after hearing about the rally through an Instagram post by Finley Muratova, a content creator who focuses on sexual assault prevention. Muratova was one of the main organizers of the event and is among the many content creators posting about the Jane Doe case on social media.
“I think it’s important to show support for any survivor that’s brave enough to come forward,” Sulsky said. “I also wanted to support my friends that are organizing.”
Another organizer, Sulsky noted, had flown in from Colorado.
Sulsky said that she felt that Cornell University’s recent decision to ban fraternity social events for the rest of the school year did not go far enough to address the “root cause” of campus sexual assault.
“I don’t think it’s adequate. I am glad that they’re doing something, but I think just shutting the frat parties down isn’t going to do anything because there’s rapists that aren’t in frats,” Sulsky said. “Those men that are in the frats that have perpetrated this are still out, they’re not educated.”
The university has said it is committed to taking “meaningful action” in the wake of Jane Doe’s allegations.
At one point, multiple organizers called on rallygoers to put pressure on state lawmakers to close the so-called “voluntary inebriation loophole.” Some advocates have argued that a lack of specificity in state law makes it harder to prosecute alleged sexual assault cases when the victim has voluntarily consumed drugs or alcohol.
A bill that supporters say would close that loophole has passed the New York State Senate but stalled in the Assembly.
At one point, organizers turned Assemblymember Anna Kelles’ office phone number into a chant and called on the crowd to flood her office with phone calls. They also called on protesters to call Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and “knock down” the door to his home in the Bronx.
Kelles, who has spoken publicly about her own experiences of sexual assault, has been an outspoken critic of Cornell University’s handling of the Jane Doe case. Kelles also sits on a recently convened working group that Heastie tasked with moving the stalled bill that could address the loophole in state law.
More than just words
Not all attendees had quite so long a journey to the rally on the Commons. Abey Mills, who grew up in Ithaca, attended the rally with their friend and fellow local, Lorelli Cervantes.
Mills said they have lived in Ithaca their entire lives and have watched many years of protests “come up and down in waves.”
“I really want to make sure that, like they said, that this is the beginning of the end,” Mills said, referring to the renewed uproar over the Jane Doe case.
Mills said they don’t remember hearing about the Jane Doe case when it was first reported in 2024, which they blamed on a lack of media attention. At the time, Cornell University police released a brief crime alert about the allegations but did not provide further details.
Mills said they are not afraid to confront issues of sexual violence head-on, but they want to see others do the same — even if it is uncomfortable. Their band, the local feminist punk group Evil Sex Witch, has a song that calls for perpetrators of rape to be castrated.
Both Mills and Cervantes said they had experienced sexual assault themselves but felt they were not taken seriously when they reported it.
Cervantes said she hoped the outpouring of support Tuesday was more than just “words” and would translate into tangible change for other survivors of sexual assault.
“It feels as if many people around Ithaca and around the world love to post online about their support [for survivors of sexual violence],” Cervantes said. “But when they see or hear something from someone nearby, they don’t want to believe it.”
The rally was not without confrontation.
The Ithaca Police Department was on hand and removed several people, including political commentator Michael Tracey, who has gained notoriety on social media as a critic of Jane Doe’s civil lawsuit and for his attempts to uncover her identity. At the start of the rally, organizers asked attendees not to interact with “agitators,” naming Tracey as an example.
Police later surrounded Tracey and escorted him away after an altercation with a protester. It’s not clear who instigated the altercation or whether it became physical.
Police also removed Ithaca Commons fixture William Metro, better known as “Magic Man.” A rally attendee told The Ithaca Voice she had asked organizers and police to remove Metro. The attendee, an Ithaca local, said Metro had made her feel unsafe and had been scoffing at speakers.
During Tuesday’s rally, content creator Olivia Rose led a choreographed performance of a piece originally created by the Chilean feminist collective, LASTESIS.The piece, which has become a feminist protest anthem, has been performed by activists against sexual assault worldwide, including at an Oct. 5 rally that drew thousands to Cornell’s campus.
Cornell graduate student Elizabeth Gallego organized the performance of the LASTESIS piece at the Cornell rally. Gallego, who is from Colombia, said the chant has been particularly meaningful to her and other international students.
“[The chant] highlights that it’s not just the people who commit rape who are to blame, but that there’s a system behind them that covers them up and allows them to do these kinds of macabre and atrocious things,” Gallego said. “In a way, that chant allows us to say this out loud.”
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